My hunches are that the NBA will expand. I truly think that they are riding high with this year's playoffs. My guesses are that Vegas and Kansas City will get the 2 expansion bids. I also think that Oklahoma City will keep the Hornets. That will make it easy for Memphis to go to the east.

I don't think that there will be 8 divisions of 4 like the NFL has. I think that there will be 4 divisions of 8:

Good point. I tried running some numbers. If a team plays the other 7 teams in its division 4 times that is 28 games. If it plays the other 24 teams twice that is 48 games. We are now sitting at 76 games. I don't know how to schedule the final 6 games.

I still think that the NBA will expand. Do you think that they will go to an NFL 8x4 alignment?

This thread doesn't seem to get a lot of action but perhaps I can breathe some life into it. With an arena deal going through in Seattle I think the Sonics most definitely need to be revived as an expansion franchise. To balance things out at 32 I would place another expansion team in Kansas City in the Sprint Center since it is NBA ready.

As for divisions, I would move the Timberwolves into the Eastern Conference and that central division with Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Detroit, and Cleveland. This makes a ton of since. The Bucks and Wolves are natural geographic rivals.

In the West I would add both expansion franchises to the Northwest Division. It would have Seattle, Portland, Utah, Denver, Oklahoma City, and Kansas City.

Word is the Kings were sold to some dude from Seattle and that they'll be moving north. This is good news for Larry Ellison who has wanted to bring an NBA team to the South Bay for some time. I doubt the NBA would have allowed three teams in N. California, but if the Kings leave Sacramento maybe they would allow an expansion team to play at the HP Pavilion.

I'd like to see the NBA go to 32 with 4 divisions by adding San Jose and Virginia Beach or Pittsburgh

Something to be said about this: I really do believe that, when the Maloofs tried to move to Anaheim last year, there was a trend to be had. If the NBA didn't prove to protect territories, I think you were going to see more teams in the big 3-6 markets... or the 2nd concept the Maloofs tried to pursue with Virginia Beach, where they'd own the market.

OTHERWISE, I would dismiss the notion that the NBA would move into NHL arenas off hand.

Only 9 NHL teams share arenas... with 10 NBA teams (Staples Center has the 2-and-1 combo). 8 of those are in the 12 LARGEST markets. Denver usually has one of the teams on the rise and one of the teams in the tank. When Pepsi Center opened, the Avalanche were on a roll and the Nuggets were in the outhouse. Those roles have reversed.

My point here: while I do suspect the Maloofs are about to- VERY reluctantly- give up the ghost and sell the Kings to the Seattle owners, I think there will be rethink about bringing in the NHL. Seattle's market is substantially larger than Denver's, so it's not out of the realm of possibility, but I have my doubts.

I don't think the NBA will expand. There's already a dilution and a lot more empty seats than advertised. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a contraction. However, if the enterprising politician wants to make things interesting, I wonder what would happen if Congress gave the NBA an anti-trust exemption in exchange for (1) standards by which public funding of arenas is limited, and (2) requirement of promotion and relegation with at least a 2nd division established. I think of that because there are several similar-sized arenas that don't have NBA but easily could approximate some current markets, and this may also be the last best way to protect the "good markets" (LA, Boston, etc.) that draw actual TV interest.

Something to be said about this: I really do believe that, when the Maloofs tried to move to Anaheim last year, there was a trend to be had. If the NBA didn't prove to protect territories, I think you were going to see more teams in the big 3-6 markets... or the 2nd concept the Maloofs tried to pursue with Virginia Beach, where they'd own the market.

OTHERWISE, I would dismiss the notion that the NBA would move into NHL arenas off hand.

Only 9 NHL teams share arenas... with 10 NBA teams (Staples Center has the 2-and-1 combo). 8 of those are in the 12 LARGEST markets. Denver usually has one of the teams on the rise and one of the teams in the tank. When Pepsi Center opened, the Avalanche were on a roll and the Nuggets were in the outhouse. Those roles have reversed.

My point here: while I do suspect the Maloofs are about to- VERY reluctantly- give up the ghost and sell the Kings to the Seattle owners, I think there will be rethink about bringing in the NHL. Seattle's market is substantially larger than Denver's, so it's not out of the realm of possibility, but I have my doubts.

I don't think the NBA will expand. There's already a dilution and a lot more empty seats than advertised. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a contraction. However, if the enterprising politician wants to make things interesting, I wonder what would happen if Congress gave the NBA an anti-trust exemption in exchange for (1) standards by which public funding of arenas is limited, and (2) requirement of promotion and relegation with at least a 2nd division established. I think of that because there are several similar-sized arenas that don't have NBA but easily could approximate some current markets, and this may also be the last best way to protect the "good markets" (LA, Boston, etc.) that draw actual TV interest.

Stern guaranteed expansion was coming to Europe just the other day. Don't be surprised if the NBA has a lot more teams in 20 years.

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